SPECIAL POLICE ESTABLISHMENT Vs. STATE OF MADHYA PRADESH

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioner is the Special Police Establishment, Indore, namely, the office of Lokayukt, State of Madhya Pradesh. The case of the petitioner is that on a report made to the petitioner that the respondent no.4 has amassed properties and assets beyond the known sources of income, a raid was conducted at his premises. Consequently, an FIR was registered in Crime No.376 of 2014. A report was accordingly prepared. It was submitted before the sanctioning authority seeking sanction to prosecute respondent no.4. The respondent no.3 by the impugned order has rejected the grant of sanction to prosecute respondent no.4. Questioning the same, the instant petition is filed.

(2.) Shri Veer Kumar Jain, learned senior counsel appearing for the petitioner's counsel contends that the State have committed an error in refusing to grant sanction to prosecute the respondent no.4. That substantial material exists in order to show that sanction for prosecution requires to be granted. That even the grounds stated in the order refusing to grant sanction for prosecution are untenable. He places reliance on a Division Bench judgment of the Jabalpur Bench of this Court in the case of Special Police Establishment vs. State of M.P. reported in 2011 (2) MPLJ 529; a Division Bench judgment of the High Court of Andhra Pradesh in the case of Sri K. Srinivasulu vs. Government of A.P. (2010 SCC Online AP 151); and the judgment of the Hon'ble Supreme Court in the case of Vijay Rajmohan vs. State Represented by the Inspector of Police, CBI, ACB, Chennai, Tamil Nadu reported in 2022 SCC Online SC 1377, in support of his contention.

(3.) Reply is filed by the respondents no.1 to 4. They have denied the petition averments. They rely on a Division Bench judgment of the Jabalpur Bench of this Court passed in W.P.No.13776 of 2022 (State of M.P. vs. Sandeep Kumar Lohani and others) on 1/7/2022 to contend that the establishment of the Lokayukt could not seek for a mandamus against the State to grant sanction for prosecution. Hence, they pray that this petition be dismissed.